Reborn To Save Him

Chapter 3

Maybe it was because she had been killed once, or maybe it was because she was starting to have a soft spot for this man, Helena wasn't afraid of Adrian.

Even though he was pointing a gun at her, Elena, for some strange reason believed Adrian wouldn't kill her or hurt her.

She boldly held on to the gun pointing at her, and stared deeply at Adrian, not taking her eyes off him.

“I already told you everything I know. I overheard Marcus and Celine conspiring to kill you. They were going to poison your drink and get rid of you.”

“And?”

“And I also heard Marcus say he caused the death of all your fiancées. I promise that's all I know. But if you still don't believe me, you can kill me.”

Helena moved her head closer to the gun, as if to prove her point.

“Believe it or not, I risked my life to save you tonight.”

A few seconds later, Adrian returned the gun back to his pocket. Helena secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“You had a gun all these while, and you couldn't use it to get rid of those men?”

Adrian threw her a dirty look but didn't respond to her words.

“Why did you help me? You weren't obligated to.”

This time, Helena threw Adrian a dirty look. That was exactly what she had done in her first life, in the end, she was killed.

But Adrian didn't know that, and even if she told him, he wouldn't believe her.

“I did it from the goodness of my heart. I'm just a nice person.” Helena faked a smile at her response.

Adrian scoffed. Of course, he didn't believe her.

“What do you want as a reward?” A man like Adrian would never believe in someone helping him from the goodness of their hearts. Not especially, after everything he had been through growing up. The only reason people got close to him was because they wanted to use him. Otherwise, he was considered a Jinx and no one wants anything to do with a Jinx.

“I don't want you to die. I don't want to die as well. Since I protected you tonight, you have to protect me too.” Helena answered.

“That's it?” Adrian asked suspiciously.

“Cross my heart,”

Adrian did not respond to her, it was obvious he was still very suspicious of her.

“Where do you live, I'll drop you off.”

“No, that's not happening,” Helena rejected Adrian's kind gesture immediately. In her last life, she had been killed even though she hadn't gotten involved with Adrian. Who's to say that wouldn't happen now that she had actually gotten involved with him.

“What if your brother sends his men after me? I'm not going back home tonight.”

“Do you have somewhere else you want to go?”

“Yeah,” Helena replied hastily. “Your place.”

“I don't take strangers home.”

“Well, I'm not a stranger.” Helena refuted, “we practically went through life and death together. I would say we're friends now.”

“Friends?” Adrian looked at her in disbelief.

“Of course! We're practically buddies now.” Helena placed her hand on his shoulder as if to prove her point.

He shrugged her off. “We're not friends.”

“Fine, comrades then.” Helena responded.

“We're not comrades,” Adrian argued.

“Fine, acquaintance,” Helena argued back. Before Adrian could say another word, Helena spoke again. “That's the lowest I'm going. We're not strangers.”

It seemed Adrian wanted to argue again but he kept his words to himself.

“I'll drop you off at a hotel.” Adrian concluded.

“I'm pretty sure your brother can easily find me there and kill me.”

“You're a nobody, he won't waste his resources on you.”

“Since I protected you, you have to protect me, otherwise, there's no deal.” Helena insisted. “I'm not sleeping at a hotel and that's final.”

She thought Adrian would argue again, surprisingly, he didn't. He didn't say a word as he started the car again and drove back into the busy city road.

Thirty minutes later, Helena found herself staring at one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in California.

Of course, she didn't expect less from Adrian. The Vale family were literally part of the top 30 richest families in California. They lived in Silicon Valley, a place only the wealthy can afford to live.

Helena lived in Stockton, a primary destination for lower-income families who have been priced out of the Bay Area. She had only been to Silicon Valley a few times, and only for work purposes, one of which was tonight.

It was rare to see a place as magnificent as this, so she could only stare in awe as Adrian drove through the quiet street.

Helena followed Adrian through the silent security gate, pulling up to a house that looked less like a home and more like a high-end museum. She stared at the brutalist structure, a sharp mix of charcoal concrete, black steel, and massive glass panels under a flat roof.

There were no colorful flowers. Helena walked past square patches of artificial-looking grass and dark, near-black Japanese maples. In the courtyard, she passed a rectangular reflection pool with a dyed-black bottom that perfectly mirrored the gray California sky.

Adrian led her to the front entrance, a twelve-foot door of sandblasted black oak. Looking closely, Helena noticed it had no handle, only a recessed biometric scanner pulsing with a faint white light as Adrian stepped up to open it.

Helena stepped into the great room, immediately noticing how rarely it was used. The heavy charcoal sofas were flawlessly uncreased, the micro-cement floors shone without a single scuff, and the air had the sterile, chilly stillness of an art gallery.

But when she followed Adrian into the kitchen, the mood shifted completely. Here, the massive black marble island bore faint, warm rings from coffee mugs, a collection of high-end oils and copper pans sat within arm’s reach of the stove, and the faint, rich aroma of roasted garlic still lingered in the air, proof that this was the one room where Adrian actually used, a lot.

She dropped the champagne glass and tray on the counter.

“Why do you still have that with you?” Adrian was confused she hadn't left them at the Vale mansion.

“This,” Helena pointed to the glass, “Is to prove that you were truly poisoned. I just can't get rid of the evidence, plus, I need you to get it tested to prove my innocence.”

Next, she pointed to the tray. “I didn't know where to leave this so I just brought it along.” She smiled sheepishly at her action.

“Mhm,” Adrian responded coldly.

There was a few seconds of silence before the loud rumble from Helena’s stomach broke the silence.

She suddenly remembered she hadn't eaten since yesterday. With everything that had happened tonight, she had completely forgotten about her hunger.

“Do you perhaps have anything I could eat? Bread, chips, anything at all? I haven't eaten since yesterday.” Helena pleaded politely.

Before she could say another word, her stomach rumbled again, as if to prove her point.

She let out a shy chuckle at the embarrassing feat.

“Mhm,” Adrian gestured at one of the stools next to the counter. “Sit down.”

Helena obeyed without hesitation.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but definitely not instant noodles.

Adrian opened the cabinet above the stove and pulled out 2 instant noodles.

Helena had worked as a waitress for several years and one thing she was sure of is that instant noodles are not a part of rich people's menu. So she was obviously surprised to see Adrian keep something like that in his kitchen. But to her, that also meant a man like Adrian often cooked his own meals.

“Don't you have a chef?” Helena blurted out impulsively.

“No,” Adrian surprisingly responded while focusing on the meal he was preparing.

“Oh,” Helena kept the rest of her questions to herself. Seeing him concentrate so much, she didn't want to bother him again.

15 minutes later, the noodles were ready and Adrian dished it out on separate plates with a fork. He handed her one and dropped the other on the counter. He then got them each a bottle of water from the fridge.

Even though the noodles were very hot, Helena gobbled it up quickly. What she didn't expect was for Adrian to do the same.

She burst out laughing.

She thought a man like Adrian would be super cautious about how he ate in front of a stranger. He obviously looked like someone who would take table m

anners very seriously.

“What's funny?” He gave her his usual cold look.

“Nothing,” Helena replied shyly before going back to her meal.